Monthly Archives: May 2009

Now that planning permission has been given by Fingal County Council for the building by Twinlite Developments of two schools in Tyrellstown (F08A/0787), the Dept of Education must immediately step in and take responsibility for these schools, as it does ordinarily in other areas. In July, Joe Higgins and I objected to this planning application, not to delay permanent schools ...

Thousands of residents in Ongar, Latchford, Tyrrelstown and elsewhere remain locked into contracts with private management companies and are increasingly falling into arrears as the recession bites. Such residents should use the local elections to pass judgement on the parties who stood over this. They must elect candidates who have real track records – not just vocal opposition or gimmicks ...

Mary Raftery’s documentary, States of Fear, which gave rise to the Child Abuse Commission was first broadcast just over ten years ago, on Tuesday night, 27th April 1999. It was a shocking story, powerfully told but what happened the next morning in the Dail cast an interesting light on the ‘states of consciousness’ of the main political parties about the seriousness of what it had unearthed.

Socialist Party candidate for the North East ward Dave Keating this morning slammed HSE boss Brendan Drumm’s €500,000+ wage cheque and said that it was an insult in the week that tens of thousands of rent allowance recipients received correspondence from the HSE outlining cuts in their allowance.Dave Keating said: “I am receiving daily phone calls now from tenants who ...

SOME POLITICAL and socialcommentators have begun to bemoan the continual stream of bad economic news. However for theworking class and the middle class in Ireland and around the world the impact of the bad economic reality is unavoidable.

George Lee wants to sell off Bord Gais and the lucrative parts of the ESB, supposedly to fund a jobs creation programme. The irony is that in order to sell the ESB, Fine Gael has supported Fianna Fail's policy of cutting the staff of the semi state company in half to just 6,500, with further staff cuts planned. Fine Gael has also supported the government's policy of introducing so called competition in the generation and selling of electricity. This they say is in order "to reduce the price for consumers". However the very opposite has happened.

SOCIALIST POLICIES are needed to solve the economic crisis and its devastating effects on the living standards and lives of ordinary people.

Socialist policies are relevant to the key problems facing people today, the draconian pay cuts, the housing crisis and looming mortgage crisis, the vicious cutbacks in health and education, and crucially the emergence of mass unemployment.

The tax hikes in the budget represent a universal pay cut and are part of an overall desire of the government and bosses to slash general wage levels by up to 20%. They are intent on imposing a race to the bottom. The Quick Service Food Alliance, which is made up of the main fast (bad) food outlets, are attacking some of the lowest paid workers, demanding that they give up payments for Sunday working etc. The minimum wage is also being attacked and undercut by bosses.

EVERYONE KNOWS the minimum wage is paltry and it’s not enough to live on. Many young people up to the age of 20 have an even lower minimum wage, as miserable as €6.06 per hour for some. Yet each time we hear the oft-repeated mantra of “We must regain competitiveness” from the spokespersons for big and small businesses and right-wing politicians it is now increasingly accompanied by calls for the lowering of the minimum wage.

The Quick Food Service Alliance which includes McDonalds, Burger King, Subway and Abrakebabra, have had the gall to launch a legal challenge to the minimum wage and to the compulsion to pay over-time rates on a Sunday!